The Recalcitrant Assassin, page 13
“I can have a couple of weapons put into the car that will be waiting for you. My contact is very good, very discreet.” Nobu said.
“What do you think?” Haiden asked Imani.
“I don’t know. I’m always on the fence about using an unknown weapon.” She said, biting her bottom lip.
“My guy is good Imani, really good. That’s why I go to him. It is expensive, but worth the money.” Nobu said.
“Okay, but I want a Ruger, and a Sig for Haiden. Send extra gloves in the overnight package, along with the heavy-duty zip ties and taser and knife. I can take enough solution for our fingertips at least. I’ll have an ounce of it in my luggage.” Imani said, feeling better about the decision.
“Then it’s a go?” Nobu asked.
“It is. Also, I want to take a look again at his property. I don’t want any surprises.” Imani said.
Ϫ
The flight to Denver was uneventful. Haiden had grown his beard longer and was wearing brown contacts. His driver’s license was Jake Soto. Imani was Gwen Chance. She wore her long brown wig and glasses. No one had looked twice at the couple. They’d gone to the Holiday Inn Express and picked up their packages along with the keys to the vehicle in the hotel parking lot. Imani had sent Haiden to drive around in the car, a 2015 Honda Civic, to make sure it ran well and filled with a full tank.
She wasn’t antsy, nor nervous, but she did want to get this over with. She had a job this weekend in Paris and she wanted to be clear headed for that one. She resented Best for putting her in this position, for looking over her shoulder. She couldn’t say she was sorry meeting Haiden, even though she’d discounted him before she’d known him. She laughed at that. His cover as a metrosexual was a good one. He’d put her off.
They shared the room at the Holiday Inn, which was a nice one with a king bed. It felt good to have him with her. She’d felt lonely at times in her life, but not alone. She’d had Nobu. But she had to admit, that she did feel lonesome at times. Haiden, being in their line of work, understood her, the challenges and also the loneliness of the inability to share.
“Hi dear, how was your day? Kill anyone interesting today?” she sniggered. Yeah, couldn’t do that with regular people. They’d run screaming into the hills. Or have her committed.
She and Haiden had already checked out the weapons left in the vehicle. Both weapons were clean and well maintained. They handled them with gloves as well as the car. No fingerprints would be left. They remained in two separate bags, and would only be pulled out if needed. Hopefully they would not.
Haiden came back into the room, smiling.
“Vehicle runs smooth, so should be good. Nobu has my phone set with the GPS, so shouldn’t have any problems finding the place.”
Imani smiled and nodded.
“You okay? You seem a little out of sorts.” Haiden asked, sitting on the bed beside her, his hand resting lightly on her hip.
She looked up at him. “I was just thinking how weird it is, a nice weird mind you, that we are in each other’s lives. I never felt alone. But sometimes, I felt lonely, you know?”
“I know, and I did feel alone. It means something special to share this with you. I know you have Nobu to share with, but I also knew that you avenged victims, but I really didn’t know what it was like until I was with you and I felt that overwhelming rage. Nobu is like that, he knows, but he really doesn’t know, like we do, and with your victims, now I know and I feel that burn to help them.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I feel the rage and live it. Nobu feels some of it, but as a spectator. When you see, and you smell, it is visceral. You can’t explain it, and when you experience it, it makes you want to go on a rampage, but you can’t because if your emotions take over, you make mistakes and get caught and then you can’t help them anymore.” She said, her hand covering his.
“I know, all I could smell was blood, and I wanted to shred them apart. You were so damned good. You took them out and you saved those women. I want more, I want to do more.” He said.
She smiled up at him and nodded, then she drew him down for a kiss. She entwined her fingers into his long hair, it was thick and she pulled him down to her.
She felt the heat of him and he smelled like a large male animal. She supposed he was, a large predator. She smiled beneath the kiss. She began to pull at his shirt, untucking it from the waistband of his jeans. She heard his surprised grunt and giggled. With alacrity, he stripped the shirt from his body, several buttons popping off. That made her laugh since one hit her in the eye.
He grinned down at her and shrugged in apology. His hand went to her short locks and he ran his fingers through them.
“My mom says I should grow it out, since I look like a boy.” She grinned up at him, his body pinioned over her.
“Naw, you don’t look like a boy at all, and I like it short. It suits you.” He said and kissed her nose.
“That’s good, cause I like my hair short as well.” She laughed.
He leaned in and kissed her, ending the conversation. She ran her hands along his back, it wasn’t overly muscular, but it was hard with muscles of a man that took care of himself. They were real and not made from the gym. He had to take care of himself, his very life depended on it. Hers did as well.
His fingers found the buttons on her shirt and he slowly opened each. His hand played over her collar bone. Then her neck. It was tender and teasing at the same time. It had been such a long time for her, a long-ago memory. She’d only had two lovers, neither memorable, their faces and names long forgotten. They’d been young like she’d been, but here was a man in his prime. A man that knew what he was doing. She sighed happily and let her body succumb to the pleasures of lovemaking.
Ϫ
Haiden had been surprised at Imani’s move. She was asleep beside him, her face soft and pink. He loved her long legs, they wrapped around him and held on like crazy. He smiled and smoothed her hair back. Her eyelids fluttered but didn’t open. She looked like a fallen angel, darkness smudging under her eyes. He knew she was tired. Nobu said she’d not slept a lot the past couple of days. She’d been prowling the apartment, as he put it, like a caged animal.
Haiden pulled the covers up to cover them both, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her head. He smiled as she made sleep noise, it said a lot that she’d not woken up. She lived a dangerous life and he was sure her senses were as sharp as his own. Yet the greatest compliment she could have given him, was to sleep peacefully beside him, untroubled and trusting.
He thought about Best and he could feel the rage begin to bubble. He tamped it down. He knew emotions could cause stupid decisions. He kept his emotions out of his work, but with Imani, and the threat to her, it was personal. Not only that, he’d been used by this bastard. He didn’t like being used. And now that he had Imani in his life, he liked it even less.
He would however leave it to Imani to deal with, he’d only be her backup and assistant. A hard smile crossed his face, he was sure she’d make Best’s last moments on earth, a living hell. They would sleep a few more hours before leaving. He closed his eyes and was soon asleep.
Ϫ
The air was surprisingly cool, they were at a higher altitude and Imani figured that was why. They had come in through the woods, following the GPS. In front of them was the house, dark and quiet. Nobu had confirmed that Best was home. Nobu had called Best earlier that evening on the house’s phone. Nobu had posed as a journalist requesting an interview sometime next week in Washington. Best had declined.
Haiden walked beside her, neither spoke, their stride was slow and cautious. Though the area was quiet, that didn’t mean there couldn’t be surprises. Both were wearing black, and the heavy latex gloves, taped at the wrists. Coming to the back door, Imani sent the text to confirm security out.
“Out. Go ahead.” Nobu texted back.
Taking her lockpick tools, she quickly opened the back, kitchen door. Their NVGs had come in handy traversing the dense woods. Though depth perception was a little dicey. They went upstairs immediately, checking all the open doors as they went. There were quite a few rooms, it was a good-sized house. There were several bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a large linen closet.
They came to double doors and Haiden pulled his Sig Sauer, ready in case Best had heard them and was ready to shoot them. Imani opened the doors. They heard resounding snores from the large four poster bed. It was loud and Imani gritted her teeth. She pulled out her taser and readied it. She walked up to the bed, and she saw the face of her would be killer. She stuck the taser into Best’s fat neck and lit him up. He made a strangling sound and spit flew from his mouth as his body jerked.
Imani stepped back and Haiden rolled the man off the bed. He made a heavy thump on the floor and Haiden pulled the heavy-duty zip ties and secured the man’s hands behind his back. He then secured his ankles. Imani went to a highboy and opened it. She found a pair of socks and walked back over. She shoved them into the downed man’s mouth.
“Let’s go have a quick look around.” She said softly. Haiden nodded and followed her out of the room. They retraced their steps downstairs and checked all the rooms in the house. Satisfied there were no other people in the large house, they went back upstairs. Best was cursing behind the sock.
“You ready?” She asked Haiden and he nodded, pulling out the small recorder. They had practiced in the hotel, her talking then he’d click the tape on when they simulated Best talking and back and forth until Haiden could ensure that Imani’s voice wouldn’t be recorded. The lights would remain off, they didn’t want someone, who might be passing by or watching the house to see that Best was up.
Imani drew her knife and then slapped Best in the face, a loud crack reverberated around the room. Best immediately stopped and froze.
“Okay Senator Reed Best, I’m going to pull the socks from your mouth. If you start screaming, I’m going to put my taser on your balls and fry them. Is that clear? You play nice, and I’ll play. You can nod your answer.”
At his nod, she pulled the socks from his mouth. She heard Haiden click the recorder and smiled.
“Who the hell are you? Do you know who I am? I’m Senator Reed Best, not just some chump.” He spat out angrily. Haiden clicked the recorder off.
“Did I not just call you by your name? And I am the woman you tried to kill.” She said in a jovial voice, she heard Haiden hit record, waiting for Best to answer.
“What? I didn’t try to kill anyone are you crazy?” Best argued, Haiden stopped the tape.
“No? I’ll ask again, and just so you know I’m serious, I’m going to cut a long gash on your fat gut.” And with that, Imani drew her Spearpoint lightly across Reed Best’s stomach, the skin easily parting and blood welled out.
“Jesus, Jesus, stop, stop, I’ll answer, Jesus Christ. Stop.” He cried, now fear in his voice.
“Okay, we’ll start all over, why did you try, twice now, to have me killed? Because I’ve done a lot of work for you and I’ve done it well. So, tell me, why kill me? I didn’t know who you were at the time, so you didn’t need to do it.” She asked calmly, and then heard Haiden turn on the tape.
“I was planning on running next year for the presidency, okay. I couldn’t have all my misdeeds come to light. I couldn’t be in a position for blackmail. You have a list of all the people I had killed. I couldn’t let that come to light. I had to have you killed. It was nothing personal.” He ended, panting heavily.
“I’d never have even known you jackass. Tell me every name and city of the people you hired me to kill, if you can even fucking remember them. Because if I find out that you’ve hired someone else to come after me, I’ll make sure the news gets this list. Am I clear?” She lied. Haiden had suggested that if Best thought he had a chance of coming out of this with his life, then he’d be more apt to talk. They needed his voice telling of all the people and places that he’d had contracts on.
“The people and government need to know how dirty this guy is, otherwise, they’ll be looking for us and won’t stop. We need him to say every name and location.” Haiden had said.
“I .. I had Michael Davisson killed in Dallas. He was the latest. I had James Caltwell killed in Atlanta, Drew Wilks in Atlanta, Murry Summerset in Washington, Alice Parker in Boston, Nick Pushon in Topeka, Janet Hammer in San Francisco and Tommy Listener in D.C.”
“If I find that there are more, I’ll send the tape to the press.” She warned.
“Okay goddamn it, there was also a husband and wife, here in Wyoming.” He blurted.
“Now, why did you have all these people killed? Remember, I will be looking into this and if I don’t get the straight answer, you can kiss your fat ass good-bye.”
“I killed them because they stood in my way, for one reason or another. Or, because I didn’t like them or they talked shit about me, that would have hurt my career. They got in my way. Besides, what does it matter, you got paid. I paid you good for each hit. They were nobodies, nothing. Less than nothing. I am in a position to help you. I can send more hits your way. I can pay you a lot more once I become president. It wasn’t personal. Really, I just couldn’t have that shit blowing back on me. You understand, I’m sure. It was nothing personal.” He began to babble and whine.
Imani nodded at Haiden who turned off the tape for the last time. They had what they needed.
“Yes, asshole it was personal to me. You tried to have me killed twice.” She said.
“No, no, only once.” He argued.
“Actually asshole, twice. And if I’d not been the one, someone would have killed her.” Haiden said, anger in his voice.
“What? What? You’re the one, you took my money.” Best said, confused and indignant.
“You know, you’re a complete jackass. You aren’t fit to run or lead our country. I’m doing our country a favor in fact.” Imani said in a light voice, and laughed at the end. She looked up at Haiden who grinned at her.
She stood, and so did Haiden.
“What do you want to do with him?” Haiden asked.
“I was thinking about opening him up and letting him bleed out, you know it would take a bit, but he’d be dead.”
“Jesus, no, no. Please, you said if I told everything, you’d not kill me.” Best begged.
“Actually, I didn’t promise anything.” She laughed.
“It’s up to you babe, whatever you want, then we can go home and relax.” Haiden grinned, he leaned over and kissed her on the lips, their NVGs clacking.
Imani grinned up at him, and nodded. She bent down and stuffed the socks back into Best’s mouth, cutting off his scream. She took her knife and drew it down his gut, pushing deeper. The skin split and the inner peritoneum opened up. Best squealed through the socks, his body rocking wildly to get away from the knife.
“Oops, I think I nicked something, when he rocked over. I think he’ll bleed out quick.” She said.
“That’s okay, as long as he dies. No one tries to kill my girlfriend, nobody puts baby in a corner, I’ll tell you that.” He said.
“Idiot.” She laughed, and they left Best on the floor, his cries becoming weaker. They slipped from the house and went back through the woods. It took a bit of time, they were trying not to trip on logs and branches. At the car, they stripped off their outer clothing, changed gloves.
“You’re good, I don’t see any blood on your garment.” Haiden said.
“Yeah, I try to keep anything from touching me, don’t want to take anything away from the crime scene.” She smiled. “Put them in the trash bag. Let’s go back to the hotel. We should get there before dawn.” Imani said getting into the car.
On the drive back to the hotel, they made a stop at a rest stop, Haiden took the garbage bag and put it in one of the outdoor trash receptacles. He’d moved most of the trash aside and slipped the black garbage bag beneath the other trash. With luck, the clothing would never be found. They were in Colorado, well away from Best’s home and pending crime scene.
Arriving back at the hotel, Imani put her wig and glasses back on. They went inside their room and took a long shower together. They’d left the weapons in the vehicle, hidden beneath the seats. Haiden put the key into a magnetic box and placed it under the wheel-well of the car. Someone would come by later to pick up the car. They’d not left anything behind in it.
Imani cleaned her knife in the bathroom sink, and dried it. She then wrapped up her knife and packaged it back up with her taser and their NVGs. They would catch a cab to the airport and swing by to ship her the package back home, overnighting it. They sat on the bed and she called Nobu. It was nearly 5:30am.
“Hope I didn’t wake you.” She said.
“No, I’ve been waiting. You have the tape?” Nobu asked. She could hear the exhaustion in his tone.
“Sure do, stand by to record it.” She said.
“Ready when you are.” He assured her.
After a few minutes Haiden clicked off the recorder.
“Got it. Okay, I will call the Washington National News and I think CNN news. I’ll tell them who it is from, and what is going on. Then I’ll play it for them, make sure they have time to record.”
“Will they be able to trace your call Nobu?” Haiden asked.
“Naw, I’m good, I’ll bounce the signal off a few satellites and a few different hubs. They’ll think I’m calling from Washington.”
“Okay Nobu, we’re going to catch a couple hours of sleep, then catch our flight back. Thanks again.” Imani said.
“Glad you guys are safe. Sleep tight. I got this.” He said and hung up.
For now, they took advantage of the down time and the big king-sized bed. Haiden held her and she reveled in his touch. She felt satisfied and happy. She had been happy before, but now, it was a different level of joy. She was no longer alone. And now with Best out of the way, she’d not have to look over her shoulder.
ELEVEN
Nobu looked up as Imani and Haiden walked in, and he grinned.
